Too many failed third down conversions seeing as how the offense didn't produce one until the fourth quarter. And too many costly fourth quarter interceptions like the one Jarius Byrd pulled down in the game's final minutes while Tannehill was putting together a possible game-sealing drive.

It is not too early to acknowledge that opposing defenses have caught up to what the rookie quarterback is doing.

They know the best way to attack Tannehill is to limit the blitzing because he's effective when it comes to finding the open man. The Bills sparingly brought more than four rushers on third down. The Dolphins were 0-for-7 on that critical down through the game's first three quarters.

Omar is basically saying that teams are gameplanning for Tannehill's weaknesses. He's dead wrong. Teams aren't attacking Tannehill's weaknesses, they're attacking the rest of the team and hoping Tannehill tries to do too much.

I can tell you exactly how to stop the Dolphins and it has nothing to do with attacking Tannehill's weaknesses. Here is how you stop our current team:

Step one, put seven to eight guys in the box on every single down in order to shut down the run. The offensive line can't get a good push up front, and often times makes mistakes letting interior defensive linement go through untouched.Step two, jam Hartline and Bess at the line of scrimmage in order to stop the timing of their routes. Both receivers are not overly strong or fast so it will be easy to throw off their route or catch up if they get past you.Step three, leave one or both safeties deep to prevent anything over the top and to ballhawk on mid-range to deep throws. Again Hartline and Bess aren't burners or great in jump ball situations so the safety is just out there playing the outfield looking for picks. In addition, since they will have been jammed, this allows you to keep everything in front of you. No big plays.Step four, rush at least five or six players on almost every single down in order to make sure Tannehill doesn't have a ton of time. His offensive line is weak and can't sustain their blocks for a very long period of time. This means you'll face a lot of quick reads, check downs, and throwing it away. Dink and dunk football in other words. Also, mix up your blitzes regularly, the offensive linemen and runningbacks are prone to forgetting their blocking assignments.Step five, gang tackle and try for strips. The Dolphins runningbacks and receivers have fumbled several times this season.Step six, try to get into the offensive linemen's heads. They're prone to committing stupid penalties. Especially when staring at a blitz.

If a team does all of these things, we won't be lighting up the scoreboard. We have a bad offensive line, zero run game the past month, and no burners at wideout to stretch the field vertically. Our best runningback is an inconsistent scat back. Our best offensive lineman is our center. Our best wideout is a small slot receiver. Our best tightend is best utilized as a blocker. It doesn't take a defensive genius to figure us out. We have a proven scheme, we just lack the talent to execute it right now. I expect Tannehill to be fighting an uphill battle all season long with this group. Hopefully Ireland will bring in some more athletic players to help Tannehill out next year.

All the things Omar is criticizing him for are very fixable. And I have confidence that Sherman and Philbin know as much about developing QBs as Omar does. I do find it ironic that a day before he was implying defenses have caught up with him now he is saying explicitly that they have not.

Omar is basically saying that teams are gameplanning for Tannehill's weaknesses. He's dead wrong. Teams aren't attacking Tannehill's weaknesses, they're attacking the rest of the team and hoping Tannehill tries to do too much.

I can tell you exactly how to stop the Dolphins and it has nothing to do with attacking Tannehill's weaknesses. Here is how you stop our current team:

Step one, put seven to eight guys in the box on every single down in order to shut down the run. The offensive line can't get a good push up front, and often times makes mistakes letting interior defensive linement go through untouched.Step two, jam Hartline and Bess at the line of scrimmage in order to stop the timing of their routes. Both receivers are not overly strong or fast so it will be easy to throw off their route or catch up if they get past you.Step three, leave one or both safeties deep to prevent anything over the top and to ballhawk on mid-range to deep throws. Again Hartline and Bess aren't burners or great in jump ball situations so the safety is just out there playing the outfield looking for picks. In addition, since they will have been jammed, this allows you to keep everything in front of you. No big plays.Step four, rush at least five or six players on almost every single down in order to make sure Tannehill doesn't have a ton of time. His offensive line is weak and can't sustain their blocks for a very long period of time. This means you'll face a lot of quick reads, check downs, and throwing it away. Dink and dunk football in other words. Also, mix up your blitzes regularly, the offensive linemen and runningbacks are prone to forgetting their blocking assignments.Step five, gang tackle and try for strips. The Dolphins runningbacks and receivers have fumbled several times this season.Step six, try to get into the offensive linemen's heads. They're prone to committing stupid penalties. Especially when staring at a blitz.

If a team does all of these things, we won't be lighting up the scoreboard. We have a bad offensive line, zero run game the past month, and no burners at wideout to stretch the field vertically. Our best runningback is an inconsistent scat back. Our best offensive lineman is our center. Our best wideout is a small slot receiver. Our best tightend is best utilized as a blocker. It doesn't take a defensive genius to figure us out. We have a proven scheme, we just lack the talent to execute it right now. I expect Tannehill to be fighting an uphill battle all season long with this group. Hopefully Ireland will bring in some more athletic players to help Tannehill out next year.

Good point Rich. Plus if are going to defend every one of Marinos records that gets broken by todays players by saying that if he was playing now his numbers would be much greater because he would be having to deal with the rules during his playing days we need to do the same even if his record gets broken by one of our own. Tannehill breaking this record is very misleading. Marino was much more of a sure thing after his rookie season than Tannehill will be after his.I like what I see in Tannehill but sorry to burst the bubble of everyone who thinks we found our next Marino because right now that is just the kool aid talking.

That was also the season after the bike accident. He wasn't right that year.

I don't know what people expected. All season we were talking about how great he's playing, especially considering the circumstances, and that we should expect some rough patches....Well, here's a rough patch, and we're all over the guy.

He's too smart, too athletic, and has flashed too much in 10 games to say anything but that he's got promise and potential.

The Dolphins' 2012 first-round pick isn't Miami's problem right now. Miami's leaky offense line is. The defense has gone limp in November, and the running game has disappeared since October.

...

Good quarterbacks do enough to buy their teams time, possessions, and opportunities with the game on the line.

They lead their team to enough critical fourth-quarter touchdown drives like the one Tannehill did in the fourth-quarter, capping an 11-play, 81-yard penalty-assisted drive with a two-yard toe-tap touchdown pass to Davone Bess that closed the deficit to five points.

Those types of drives show why Tannehill is more than the inexperienced quarterback that spent most of his career at Texas A&M as a receiver....

He's too smart, too athletic, and has flashed too much in 10 games to say anything but that he's got promise and potential.

The Dolphins' 2012 first-round pick isn't Miami's problem right now. Miami's leaky offense line is. The defense has gone limp in November, and the running game has disappeared since October.

...

Good quarterbacks do enough to buy their teams time, possessions, and opportunities with the game on the line.

They lead their team to enough critical fourth-quarter touchdown drives like the one Tannehill did in the fourth-quarter, capping an 11-play, 81-yard penalty-assisted drive with a two-yard toe-tap touchdown pass to Davone Bess that closed the deficit to five points.

Those types of drives show why Tannehill is more than the inexperienced quarterback that spent most of his career at Texas A&M as a receiver....

He's too smart, too athletic, and has flashed too much in 10 games to say anything but that he's got promise and potential.

The Dolphins' 2012 first-round pick isn't Miami's problem right now. Miami's leaky offense line is. The defense has gone limp in November, and the running game has disappeared since October.

...

Good quarterbacks do enough to buy their teams time, possessions, and opportunities with the game on the line.

They lead their team to enough critical fourth-quarter touchdown drives like the one Tannehill did in the fourth-quarter, capping an 11-play, 81-yard penalty-assisted drive with a two-yard toe-tap touchdown pass to Davone Bess that closed the deficit to five points.

Those types of drives show why Tannehill is more than the inexperienced quarterback that spent most of his career at Texas A&M as a receiver....

I have been a fan for 40 years. We have not been to a Super Bowl since 1984 season and have not had a playoff win since 1999. You bet I am losing patience. Year after year after year of rebuilding. Missing on high draft picks. Stupid moves in free agency. The BS goes on and on. The storied franchise is now a league laughing stock. All talk and no walk. Let's see some real tangible evidence of improvement,,,,2008 was a mirage, a tease....I want to see a team that wins games, not always talks about the wins that got away, gives excuses for poor performance, and gets humiliated by cellar dwellers.

_________________Philbin's countenance exudes confidence!1984 was so long ago...Will there ever be another rainbow?

I agree with Mak, in response to the title of this thread, yes, I see potential warning signs. Tannehill was known in college for throwing a ton of picks and in the second half of football games. However, he is a rookie and I still give him a free pass to improve. Let's hope those bad habits get broken though as having the penchant for throwing interceptions at critical moments definitely will need to improve as he gets more NFL starts.

His supporting cast has got to improve too as he really doesn't have steady offensive line help and lacks a big offensive play maker.

I hope Miami signs Mike Wallace in free agency and give us the young down field threat.

he also played little more than a full season in college. This is basically a junior playing starting quarterback for a pro football team. Sorry guys but it's gonna take 3 or 4 years before this guy pays off big.

I like Tannehill but I am thinking back to when the Jets drafted Sanchez a guy with limited starts in college. They were thrilled at first but it looks like reality is settling in. If Tannehill is going to succeed he needs to really be coached up. I think we have a good prospect , hopefully it works.

I like Tannehill but I am thinking back to when the Jets drafted Sanchez a guy with limited starts in college. They were thrilled at first but it looks like reality is settling in. If Tannehill is going to succeed he needs to really be coached up. I think we have a good prospect , hopefully it works.

Sanchez has never really put the work in until this year either. The Jets surrounded him with a lot of good players that have declined since. Jets fans didn't like Schotty Jr but I think he did a good job of keeping a balanced offense that actually worked. I do have high hopes for Tannehill. I really like his smarts and quick release. Now if we can get this offensive line that is full of 1st round draft picks on the same page.

all the coaching in the world is no cure for a lack of big time targets to throw to.We don't even have one single big-body receiver who can win in a 1-on-1 jump ballor a guy who could just abuse an opposing corner the way an A.J. Green or Demariyus Thomas can.Until Tanny gets that he will continue to throw picks and have stalled drives.

I like Tannehill but I am thinking back to when the Jets drafted Sanchez a guy with limited starts in college. They were thrilled at first but it looks like reality is settling in. If Tannehill is going to succeed he needs to really be coached up. I think we have a good prospect , hopefully it works.

Its a valid concern but Tannehill has a much better skill set to work with. If he starts getting the cocky Sanchez attitude then I will be concerned. Problem is Sanchez never had to struggle because he team always carried him and he made a couple of plays down the stretch. Once they couldn't carry him he fell apart. Tannehill is learning what its like to lose early with a bad supporting cast. From here he either learns to step up or develops a bad attitude/habits.

Its a valid concern but Tannehill has a much better skill set to work with. If he starts getting the cocky Sanchez attitude then I will be concerned. Problem is Sanchez never had to struggle because he team always carried him and he made a couple of plays down the stretch. Once they couldn't carry him he fell apart. Tannehill is learning what its like to lose early with a bad supporting cast. From here he either learns to step up or develops a bad attitude/habits.

Sanchez is an extremely streaky/erratic passer. Tannehill is a little more consistent in that department. Experience-wise from college, yes they are very similar.

Its a valid concern but Tannehill has a much better skill set to work with. If he starts getting the cocky Sanchez attitude then I will be concerned. Problem is Sanchez never had to struggle because he team always carried him and he made a couple of plays down the stretch. Once they couldn't carry him he fell apart. Tannehill is learning what its like to lose early with a bad supporting cast. From here he either learns to step up or develops a bad attitude/habits.

Sanchez is an extremely streaky/erratic passer. Tannehill is a little more consistent in that department. Experience-wise from college, yes they are very similar.

I think that, plus the attitude, is the big difference. Tannehill can make all of throws, Sanchez cannot. We'll just have to see on the consistency.

Jaworski's full answer when I asked him if Tannehill's development is hindered by the #Dolphins lack of playmakers:

"Well that clearly is the issue. And I thought early in the season I saw a quantum leap from Ryan Tannehill. I did not expect him to play well early, like most quarterbacks.I think RG3 has been the biggest surprise, the consistency over 10 games, but I thought Tannehill had a streak there where he was playing very well.

But you know, there’s an ebb and flow to young quarterbacks, and there’s an ebb and flow to every offensive team and defensive team in the NFL as the season goes, and adjustments are made. And I think what you’re seeing now is teams are adjusting to what the Dolphins are doing. There’s not much separation from their receivers, so I think the windows are always tight that Ryan is throwing into.

So I think when you look at a quarterback, particularly a young rookie quarterback in a new system, you need all the other components to be perfect, to be really at optimum levels, and they haven’t been. And I think that has really impacted Ryan’s performance. And he has made some bad decisions as well, and sometimes that does happen with young quarterbacks." 44 minutes ago

"To be honest with you, we’ve had some communication errors on the field. One interception, there was a communication error between he and Davone Bess and how he was going to break that route. The interception at the end of the game, he’ll be the first to tell you (in) hindsight not a good decision, but he explains to you what he saw.

He has great recall, everything that happens on the field. Some guys can kind of say, ‘Well, I just…’ He can tell you exactly where all 11 guys are on the field, why he made the decision. He also will say that wasn’t a good decision, but he’s made very good decisions.

He’s made very few bad decisions with the football and really, as a quarterback you evaluate, he has the talent. Does he make good decisions? Is he good under the gun? And I would have to say he is. I don’t see him regressing. I just see him, some opportunities haven’t really arisen enough where we’ve been able to say, ‘Wow, that’s a great job.’ We haven’t won the game, so if you don’t win, the quarterback’s not going to look very good. I don’t think he’s regressed to be honest with you.”